Floor structures for forming ice rinks commonly include pipes that are buried in sand or embedded in concrete. These ice forming structures have suffered drawbacks. The pipes that are buried in sand are limited to single use application, i.e., ice only, and cannot easily be used for other applications. Pipes embedded in concrete are expensive to install and are thermally inefficient because they are frequently embedded at least one inch below the upper concrete surface to prevent cracking. Additionally, the concrete surface itself is undesirable for many applications. Moreover, for the pipes buried in sand and embedded in concrete, covering the ice surface with wood tiles to form another floor surface is not a viable option due to the cost of installtion/conversion and the associated labor required, and the lack of suitability of the wooden floor for certain applications. Water has also been known to leak through covered ice surfaces causing a risk of injuries for persons participating in sports on the covered surface. Additionally, to use the rink for in-line hockey, the wooden floor covering tiles may need to be covered by another surface more compatible for in-line hockey use, further increasing the cost of installation/conversion.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,979,373, 4,394,817, and 3,751,935 disclose plastic tubes connected to one another by plastic webbing or other connecting elements for supplying a coolant to create a layer of ice. More specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,373 to Huppee teaches spaced tubular elements connected by a planar base with the spaced parallel tubes connected to the base by vertical webs. U.S. Pat. No. 4,394,817 to Remillard shows spaced tubular elements connected together by web sections positioned between adjacent tubular elements at their vertical midpoint. U.S. Pat. No. 3,751,935 to MacCracken et al. teaches tubular elements coupled together at selected points along their length. However, these tubular arrangements are not adaptable for use in non-ice applications and thus must be removed or covered by a rigid structure to use the rink area for non-ice activities. Moreover, as previously described, covering the ice surface with wooden tiles may not be a viable option because of the cost and labor required to convert the ice surface to a floor.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,597 to Eggamar discloses a floor system with elements having a generally flat top surface and longitudinally extending fluid passages beneath the top surface for providing a coolant. The floor system can be used to freeze water to form a floor for an ice rink. Alternatively, the floor system can be used for other different kinds of activities like gymnastics, basketball and tennis. However, its use for an ice rink has significant disadvantages. First, because ice does not bond to the plastic upper surface, portions of the ice surface are susceptible to being sheared off from the upper plastic surface of the floor element. Eggemar uses parallel grooves in the upper surface of the flooring element in an attempt to reduce this problem. However, such a problem still exists, as the parallel grooves have no effect on shearing in a direction parallel to the grooves and have only a minimal effect on shearing in other directions. Moreover, Eggemar includes air pockets between adjacent fluid channels that decrease the efficiency of the floor system for use as a ice rink. Additionally, the parallel grooves used by Eggemar make the top surface unsuitable for use in some applications, e.g., an in-line hockey floor, where pucks or skate wheels may be adversely affected by the parallel grooves.
Existing surfaces for in-line skating rinks have been formed by asphalt and coated asphalt. The asphalt and coated asphalt surfaces are disadvantageous because they are extremely hard leading to many player injuries. As an alternative to the asphalt surfaces, interlocking plastic tiles having a generally planar upper surface have been used. The upper surfaces of the tiles have been textured to enable wheels from in-line skates to obtain a better grip and to decrease the friction between hockey pucks and the surface. These prior art tiles have also included holes therein to reduce the amount of contact between the hockey pucks and the floor to further decrease the total friction between hockey pucks and the surface. The tiles are typically 12 inches square. However, it is not uncommon for rinks to be 200 feet by 85 feet. Accordingly, one significant drawback of this system is the installation time and cost required to interlock over 15,000 tiles.
Additionally, in ice skating rinks, improper ice maintenance and/or improper use of the ice surface can cause the sheet of ice to become too thin. If the ice level becomes too thin, the possibility of ice shear and resulting injury to skaters significantly increases, and the risk of cutting into and damaging the floor elements from the ice resurfacing operation becomes more significant. The prior art has failed to solve this problem.
When plastic flooring systems are used outdoors in very hot environments, they are subject to changes in size, texture, hardness, and feel, and can cause the floor to buckle. These problems are magnified when the flooring system is exposed to direct sunlight, and the floor surface temperature can easily reach temperatures over 100.degree. F. These drawbacks can make the floor system unusable.
Therefore, an improved floor system for use in a rink adaptable for use in ice, roller, and in-line skating applications, including ice, floor, in-line, and roller hockey, was needed. An improved floor system for a skating rink that enables the ice surface to resist shearing was also needed. Additionally, an improved floor system for an in-line hockey rink that significantly reduces installation time and cost was needed. A system for permitting extended use of a plastic floor system for in-line hockey and other application in hot temperatures and/or extreme direct sunlight was needed. A solution to prevent the sheet of ice in an ice rink from becoming too thin was also needed. The present invention was developed to accomplish these objectives.